Forest Escape
by Sapphire1112
Summary: One Shot. Set during 'River's Edge part two' When Nikki and Jack are running away from the hit man.I do not own the characters or the episode 'River's Edge'.


Nikki picked the object up off the ground and studied it before heading back inside.

"Everything all right? Did you manage to make your call?" Claudia Baxter asked as she walked back into the kitchen.

"I did, thank you. Can't reach him. Must be a misunderstanding."

Right." Claudia answered.

Nikki looked at Jack. "I think we should head back to the river and wait for him there."

"Really?" came his response.

 _Yes, Jack. Really!_

Jack looked up in surprise. She was being polite but, knowing Nikki as well as he did, he could detect an _unusually_ icy edge to her tone. She was telling him that _something_ was wrong.

"Would you like a lift back down the hill?" Claudia offered.

"No, it's fine. We'll walk." Nikki replied with _uncharacteristic_ firmness.

"Are you sure? It's no..." Claudia started.

But Nikki was adamant. "Positive, thanks." She didn't know what was going on at this farm - or even if Claudia Baxter was involved in it or not. What she _did_ know was that something was not right. Guillam had most certainly been here and if this place really had nothing to hide, _where_ _was_ _he_? They should have passed him on the way here.

"Nice to meet you." Jack told the woman politely, before following Nikki out the door. He hurriedly caught up with his friend outside and asked his burning question. "Why are we walking?"

 _We could have avoided this hill._

"Guillam uses these picks. He's been here." Nikki showed him the object she'd picked up from the ground earlier.

Jack shrugged. "So? Probably got no answer and headed off." He reasoned. But it wasn't like Nikki to make something out of nothing. She usually ended up being right.

"Well, then, where is he? We would have passed him. You said it. One road up, one road down." Shit, she was right this time as well. Where the hell was Guillam Nikki looked around her. "I'm sure I saw someone behind that barn."

Jack waved his hands at her. "It's a farm, it could be _anyone_." He sighed She was _definitely_ in charge today. He would follow her lead. "What do you want to do?"

"Have another look around, discreetly."

He had been afraid she was going to say that. Bad idea, Nikki. Jack thought. _Really_ _bad_ _idea_! There was something _very_ wrong about this place and when you smell danger you're supposed to _run_ _away_ from it! He had been hoping that she would err on the side of caution for once and suggest that they should leave immediately, letting whatever evil was at play here to get on with it. Fat chance of that though, Nikki would never suggest that in a month of Sundays, it simply wasn't her.

Jack knew that he had to ignore his misgivings, it was the only way. He knew Nikki well enough to know exactly how stubborn she could be. She was going to stay and have another look around, with or without him and with certain danger at work there was no way he was going to let her stay here alone. No way in hell.

Nikki noticed a black car. "Paint on that tree was black, right?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah. No damage this side."

Nikki examined the other side of the car. "None here either."

They continued to scour the place, but found nothing. A dog barked suddenly and they both ducked down. _They_ _must_ _not_ _be_ _seen_. Nikki was not deterred by the fact that they had so far found nothing to support her suspicions. Back in the barn, where she had seen someone earlier, they found a covered vehicle. _Why would you cover a vehicle which was already in a barn?_ Nikki thought. She lifted the dust cover off it. Jack watched her and sighed.. She was clearly _determined_ to find something - and that something could well be danger. He sighed again, dropped his rucksack on the ground and began helping her.

Nikki gasped. "It's Guillam's car." This was _not_ looking good - particularly for the missing detective. Jack moved around the car and opened the boot to reveal the almost-retired detective's body. "Oh no."

They were interrupted by the sound of creaking. Jack swallowed. Nikki was right - there _was_ someone in here. He pushed her behind him. The silence was broken by a gunshot. Nikki grabbed hold of Jack's coat and they both ducked. _This_ _was bad_.

Nikki screamed as more gunshots rang out and Jack pushed her in front of him. "Go, go, go, go. Go!"

 _They had to run. This was very bad._

When they got into the forest, Nikki stopped and looked behind her. Jack charged pat, shouting at her. "Come on." What the hell was she stopping for? Shit, did she not realise that they were being chased by a madman with a gun? And this _maniac_ clearly wanted to blow their heads off for reasons he wasn't keen on disclosing.

 _Seriously, if you're so bloody set on trying to kill us, it's basic manners to explain why first._

Jack ran through the forest, leaping over tree branches and roots, periodically glancing behind him to check that she was keeping up. He leaped over a particularly high branch - though not high enough for either of them to duck under. It was no problem for Jack, his long legs made it easy. Nikki on the other hand tried to leap over the high branch - oh, she certainly _tried_ , but it was just too high and her legs were just too short. Her shin collided with the branch and she went headfirst over it, crying out in pain and clutching her leg. "Ohhhh".

Jack heard her cry out.. His first terrified thought was that the hitman had got her. Part of him was relieved when he realised it wasn't the case, however, the other part of him was still terrified because she was injured and couldn't run anymore. He was at her side within seconds. "Nikki, are you ok?" Nikki just sobbed in response.

 _What a stupid question. She clearly wasn't ok._

Jack looked behind him, through the trees. The hitman was looking around for them. "Shit. Get up. Come on, get up. Let's go." He placed his hands under her arms and lifted Nikki back to her feet. He wrapped one of her arms around his shoulder, holding it in place with his hand and his other arm around her for support as she limped against him. This stance was awkward, especially as they began moving through the forest again. Jack was so much taller than her and her shin was so painful that she was still holding on to it as they moved but they had to keep going. It was slow but slow was better than not moving at all. "Ok?" he asked. Nikki just groaned. Jack knew she was in pain, but it wasn't safe to stop yet.

 _They had to keep going._

When they were finally far enough away from the hitman and the immediate danger was over - for now anyway, they crouched down in the undergrowth. Nikki was still in a lot of pain and collapsed onto her side. Jack put his hand on her upper arm to console her and felt her lean back against his knee, seeking his comfort. He tightened his gripped on her arm as the hitman appeared nearby, searching. Nikki's shin was throbbing and she had to bite down on her scarf to stop herself from crying out as the throbbing intensified. It didn't escape Jack's notice. He could feel her tensing up from the pain and he put his chin on her head to calm her, placing his other comforting hand on her shoulder.

He had no idea how they were going to get out of this one, but at this moment he needed to concentrate on the here and now - keeping Nikki calm despite the pain she was in and keeping her safe from the dangerous man that was lurking about. The hitman appeared to have given up for now and wandered off. Jack took his phone from his pocket.

 _Still no signal. Damn._ _Bloody useless_.

He sighed and put it away again. Nikki was looking at her phone. "Nothing. Shit." She whispered as he looked over her at the second useless phone. She leaned back and collapsed against him in frustration - and probably terror, though she was unable to differentiate between that and the pain she was in at the moment. "What have we walked into?"

Jack replaced his hand on her arm to calm her again. "We're getting out of here." He whispered firmly. No matter what happened, he was going to get her out. He squeezed her arm and she nodded. "Ok. Stay here a sec." He stepped over her and disappeared through the undergrowth.

Nikki knew he had gone to find out where the hitman was. Shit What if he got caught? She listened in terror for the sounds she was dreading - gunshots, Jack yelling in pain, or worse, triumph from the hitman suggesting that Jack hadn't stood a chance.

"Come on. We gotta go." Jack was ok, thank God. He helped her up.

"Arghhhh" Nikki couldn't help but cry out as she tried to stand on her throbbing leg.

"Ssh, ssh, ssh." Jack did his best to calm her as she limped along. They saw the hitman and crouched behind a tree to hide from him. Nikki gripped Jack's leg, then his arm. She knew _exactly_ what he was planning and it terrified her. She was desperate to stop him, but she knew that he was going to do it anyway. She knew _that_ because she knew _him_. _She_ was in danger and Jack believed he could _save_ _her_.

Jack waited for his chance, his need to protect Nikki propelling him into action when his chance came. He ran at the hitman, kicking him hard as he turned around. The gun went off and Nikki's heart almost stopped. He's been shot. _Jack's been shot._

But Jack hadn't been shot and he carried on fighting. He knew that this was one fight he could _not_ afford to lose. He managed to knock the hitman to the ground, but he was soon back up again. Jack was frantically throwing punches - and receiving quite a few in return. They _both_ ended up on the ground this time and Nikki watched in horror. Jack managed to get on top, desperately trying to knock the gun out of the other man's hand. Gunshot's were going off right, left and centre.

Jack threw some more punches and a head butt, _finally_ managing to grab the gun. He scrambled to his feet and pointed it at the hitman. Nikki waited from behind the tree with baited breath. She knew the thoughts that were running through his mind. He was holding a loaded gun and looked terrified at the very _thought_ of having to use it. She didn't know whether he'd actually be able to do it if he had to. Jack wasn't a killer.

Jack pointed the gun at the hitman. He _would_ use it if he had to. He _would_ do it if it saved Nikki. The hitman got back to his feet and Nikki held her breath, her eyes darting between the two men. The hitman wasn't giving up and made a move to grab the gun. As the hitman launched at him, Jack threw another punch and the other man collapsed on the ground. Jack pointed the gun at him again, but this time the hitman didn't get back up. He was out cold.

Having received an anonymous tip-off about Guillam's body at the farm and reports of gunshots in the neighbouring forest, DCI Butcher arrived with Thomas and some other police officers. Upon arriving, they also discovered the two bodies in the freezer - and Jack's abandoned rucksack. Thomas put his hands on his face and sighed. His two colleagues had clearly been here. Shit. "What have they got into this time?" Thomas muttered.

"I'm sure they're ok" DCI Butcher told him helpfully.

 _You know that for a fact, do you?_

"Then where are they?" We've got three dead bodies, Jack's discarded rucksack, reports of gunshots and no sign of Nikki or Jack.

 _This did not look good._

A police officer started shouting. Thomas and the DCI left the barn to see what was happening. Thomas breathed a sigh of relief. Jack was walking down the track from the forest, carrying Nikki. They were both alive.

"There they are." DCI Butcher commented, "They're _fine_."

"Nikki must be hurt if she's letting Jack carry her." Thomas pointed out. This woman was beginning to _annoy_ him. She was nice enough but he disliked people who said 'I told you so' and whilst she hadn't actually uttered those four words, she had certainly suggested them.

Nikki had told Jack that she would be fine limping next to him as she had been doing but he was anxious to get them both back to the farm - away from the unconscious hitman _before_ he woke up, so he hadn't given her much choice.

Thomas was waiting for them at the farm along with Butcher _. They had Found Guillam then_. "There's an unconscious hitman along that track." Jack told Butcher, handing her the gun. "He nearly _blew_ _our_ _heads_ _off_!"

"Are you ok?" Butcher asked.

"Well we've _still_ got our heads!" Nikki responded drily.

"I'm _so_ glad to see you two!" Thomas handed Jack his rucksack "We found the bodies."

Jack placed Nikki down on the edge of the ambulance which had just arrived. "Sorry - _'bodies'_? Plural?!"

"Yep. _Guillam_ and _two_ young girls in the freezer. I take it you two found _Guillam_ seeing as the boot was open." Thomas replied.

"Yeah, perhaps that's _why_ we got chased through the forest at gunpoint! knew nothing about the girls though."

"One blonde - _possibly_ the fourth victim from the forest. One brunette. Maybe _Guillam_ found them. It would explain why he's dead." Jack nodded. That made sense. Thomas continued "What happened to Nikki?"

"I am _here_ , guys!" She grumbled at them.

Jack ignored her. "She struck her shin on a branch and fell when we were running through the forest."

"Ouch!" Thomas exclaimed.

" _Yes_!" Nikki agreed loudly, annoyed with Jack for ignoring her. He smirked at her as Thomas continued.

"Right, well I'm off to photograph the bodies. Keep an _eye_ on her." He indicated Nikki, who rolled her eyes.

 _How old did they think she was?_

Jack watched as the paramedics tendered to Nikki's shin. She would certainly have an _impressive_ bruise there tomorrow. "Ok, thanks." Nikki said to the paramedics as they finished. DCI Butcher walked over, having supervised the hitman from the forest being put in a police car. "We think that the fourth victim in the car, the blonde female was the _real_ target and the family were just _unlucky_. She's _probably_ one of the girls in the freezer." Nikki explained to the Detective.

Jack nodded. "Guillam's murder supports that. They were killed because of whatever's going on in this farm, _not_ because of a _messy_ _divorce_."

"Oh Christ." Butcher responded.

Nikki glanced at Jack, then back at the DCI. "What about Claudia Baxter? Have you pick4ed _her_ up yet?"

"Not yet" Butcher replied.

Claudia Baxter was _dangerous_ , whether or not she was directly involved with the deaths at the farm. She owned this place and good people don't have _hitmen_ running around their property. Whatever _else_ is happening here, that woman was _toxic_.

Nikki had disliked her straight away.


End file.
